GAME OF THRONES SEASON 7
Seven things you need to know about game of thrones season 7…
Preview of the shortened series. Well, everything shrinks in the cold, doesn’t it?
1 Pace Maker
The pace of Game-play picked up like wildfire in Season 6 of HBO’s George R.R. Martin adap. With just two shortened seasons left to go, expect events to move a sight faster than ever. “I was like, ‘Already? Now?!,’” says Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister) of reading the S7 scripts. “A lot of things that normally take a season now take one episode.”
2 The GreaT War Is here
So speaks Kit Harington’s King in the North, Jon Snow. Now looking unhinged on the much-contested Iron Throne, mad Queen Cersei (Lena Headey) faces enemies every which way. Snow and Emilia Clarke’s dragon-riding Daenerys Targaryen (plus Dothraki and Dornish/Ironborn followers) will likely confront Cersei, as might Maisie Williams’ revenge-fired Arya Stark. “For a long time, we’ve been talking about ‘the wars to come’,” co-showrunner David Benioff explains. “Well, that war is pretty much here.”
3 LonG nIGhT Is here
The ‘Winter is Coming’ prophecy is fulfilled. Even filming had to wait until autumn, “for the leaves to fall off the trees,” Benioff explains; hence Season 7’s slightly delayed launch. With zombie brethren in tow, the blood-freezing Night King will likely be the coldest foe: but will legendary lightbringer Azor Ahai appear to face him, as fans suspect?
4 anyone can dIe
Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) offers a grim tease of the cast’s fates post-Season 7. “We’ve got one more season… well, not all of us.” Characters looking wobbly include Iain Glen’s Daenerys-smitten Ser Jorah. And, now that screen events have outstripped Martin’s books, hungry fans are even decoding floor maps in trailers (google ‘Cersei the Neck’) for clues to Cersei’s endgame. Coster-Waldau’s comments on Jaime’s view of Cersei certainly seem ominous. “I’m not sure he understands or knows who that person is now. And that’s scary.”
5 BasTard of a BaTTLe
“Last season’s battle was ridiculous,” recalls Emilia Clarke, referencing ‘Battle Of The Bastards’, “but this season, there’s another battle that’s epic.” The four directors charged with ushering mountainous dragons, zombie-men, night devils and armies to war include Alan Taylor, recent orchestrator of mega-brawls for Thor: The Dark World and Terminator Genisys.
6 and so They sPoke
Whether Dany walks in fire again or not, she certainly talks more, promises Clarke: “When I first read this season I thought, ‘Damn, I’ve got to learn some lines!’” Praise be, Peter Dinklage’s Tyrion Lannister also gets more talk-time despite a reduced episode count. As writer D.B. Weiss explains, “You kill a couple dozen characters, the people who are left by default need to carry more weight.” And, as worlds collide, “There are more main characters together in each other’s storylines than ever before.”
7 The neW BLood
Although Benioff/Weiss have hacked through players, many newcomers await. Theon and Yara Greyjoy’s dubious uncle Euron looks set for increased attention, while Harry Potter veteran Jim Broadbent debuts: not as a Slughorn-style armchair but as, explains Broadbent, “A maester, an archmaester… an old professor character.” Game-watchers reckon that he’s Marwyn the Mage, who warns sweet Sam Tarley of anti-magic, dragon-killing contingents. Oh, and Ed Sheeran cameos… Kevin Harley
Game Of ThrOnes: seasOn 7 sTarTs On 17 July On sky aTlanTic.